Collapsible tube dispenser



F. A. SENGIER I 2,856,926

COLLAPSIBYLE TUBE DISPENSER Filed April 5, 1957 Oct; 21, 1958 INVENTOR v flan/EAJ'azyef BY Q U3 K ATTORNEY COLLAPSIBLE TUBE DISPENSER Frank A. Senger, Watchung, N. J., assignor to Ortho JPharmaceutical Corporation, a corporation of New ersey Application April 3, 1957, Serial No. 650,506

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-261) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in dispensers or applicators for pharmaceutical formulations in the nature of liquids, semi-liquids, and jellies, and particularly relates to dispensers or applicators adapted to the application of pharmaceutical formulations into the vagina. The invention is concerned especially with a dispenser which is convenient and highly satisfactory in use and which is capable of being produced economically whereby the dispenser may be employed on a single occasion and immediately thereafter destroyed. 1

Heretofore it has been the practice to introduce viscous liquid or jelly-like pharmaceutical formulations which are used for the treatment of vaginal infections or for contraception into the vagina by means of an applicator which has been filled with a pharmaceutical formulation from a large supply-storage tube of the collapsible type. It has been customary to use the same applicator repeatedly, and on each occasion it is necessary to fit the supply tube to the applicator, collapse the supply tube so as to discharge therefrom into the applicator the desired amount of formulation. It is then necessary to detach the supply tube from the applicator, close the supply tube and return it to the shelf. This procedure obviously has many disadvantages, among which is the mechanical unhandiness of the several above-mentioned manipulations.

A serious disadvantage of the above described practice of the prior art entails re-use of the mechanical applicator. This disadvantage is readily appreciated in connection with instances where a vaginal infection is being treated since on each occasion the patient is subjected to the possibility of reinfection unless the applicator is adequately sterilized after each occasion of. use. While adequate sterilization is entirely feasible and possible, it is a time consuming task; the trouble of doing so is objectionable. The combination of the applicator and a collapsible supply-storage tube containing thepharmaceutical composition to be introduced into the body cavity is bulky and not easily transportable; neither is the combination readily disposable when no longer to be used.

This invention seeks to overcome the disadvantages of the practices of the prior art by supplying a single-application dispenser, i. e., one adapted for use on only one occasion which, nevertheless, will provide all of the advan e o p o d v c In providing a dispenser for immediate disposition after use the economic factor becomes paramount; such States Patent an article must possess many important characteristics the construction must be such that the water and alcohol content, or other volatile content, of the pharmaceutical formulation does not escape during the storage period between manufacture and use.

Further, such dispensers should be adapted to discharge substantially the entire content of the dispenser, leaving little or none in the dispenser; and further desirably, the

entirely overcome; otherwise'they are likely to be unacceptable even though eminently satisfactory mechanically speaking. 1

Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide a dispenser or applicator by means of which a liquid, semi-liquid, or jelly-like pharmaceutical composition'may be neatly, quickly, and conveniently dispensed into a body cavity.

Another object is to provide a dispenser or applicator of simple and inexpensive construction which may be :manufactured readily in large quantities and which may be discarded economically after a single occasion of use. Another further object of this invention is to provide a dispenser or applicator which in addition to providing means for applying pharmaceutical compositions also serves to provide a holder or container for the composition prior to its being dispensed.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a dispenser or applicator of the class described, adapted to maintain its contents in a sterile and effective condition up to the time of use.

A further important object of this invention is to provide a dispenser or applicator of the class described which is not bulky and which is convenient to carry and use.

Other objects of this invention will appear from the following description and drawings, as well as in the appended claims.

According to this invention, it has been discovered that a low cost applicator of a highly satisfactory character is provided by employing the well known collapsible type tube in the novel manner herein described, Generally, the present invention contemplates a collapsible type tube having positioned within its casing an elongated tubular body which, by reason of its size and location in the casing, affords a pharmaceutical formulation reservoir and further which body, by reason of its rigid nature, as will more fully hereinafter appear, provides support to the tube casing sufficientto, give it a degree of stiffness necessary to the desired ease of-application by the consumer. Thus the applicator ,of this invention is of the utmost simplicityin that it includes only two parts,aside from a closure member, inits construction. I I V The accompanying drawings illustrate Lthe structure that is designed tovcarryout the various objects'j ofthe invention, but it 'is' to be 'unde r'stood th at the invention is not confined to the exact features-shown inthedi-awin g's and that various changes may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described and illustrated herein within the scope of the claims which follow and without departing from the invention.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through about the center of the applicator.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional View taken on the line 2.2 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, numeral 10 denotes a gen- 3 er'ally cylindrical collapsible type tube having a permanen'tly closed end'12 and a dispensing end 14, dispensing end 14 being closed by stopper 16. Tube includes a main reservoir portion designated by numeral 18, in which reservoir the pharmaceutical formulation is contained until such ,time as ,it is dispensed.

"Numeral denotes an elongated generally cylindrical body having. passageway22 therein extending lengthwise of the. body and tube 10. Passageway 22 connects reser- 'voir18 with the dispensing end of tube 10 thus forming a channel through which the contents of the tube are delivered to the dispensing end 14 of the tube.

The cylindrical body 20 has two main purposes. In the "first place, it serves to provide a relatively small passageway fromdhc reservoir portion. of the tube thereby permitting the discharge of substantially all of the contents of the tube, the only portion of the contents lost being the relatively minor amount remaining in the narrow passageway.

Secondly, cylindrical body 20 acts as astiffening and supporting means for the walls of the tube thereby greatly facilitating insertion of the applicator into body cavities.

Tube. 10 and the enclosed cylindrical body 20 may be of any necessary length and may be formed of any suitable-materials. For example, tube 10 maybe of any known synthetic material affording inertness to the formulations to be contained therein and the flexibility necessary. to permit wall flexing to thereby discharge the formulation contained in the reservoir. Suitable materials are polyethylene, rubber, natural or synthetic, and metal foil.

Cylindrical body 22 should be formed of a material providing rigidity sufiicient to resist compression to the point where passageway 22 might be closed when the applicator is put into use. As in thecase of tube 10, it should be formed of material inert to the tube contents and the tube itself so that detrimental chemical reactions do not occur. Suitable materials are paper, polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride and many other synthetic materials; it may be formed also of a wax of suflicient hardness to give good stifiness.

Stopper 16 may be of any suitable materials, for example, rubber, polyethylene and the like.

It is contemplated that the applicator described herein will be supplied by the manufacturer for use by the customer properly sealed and containing a premeasured quantity of a suitable pharmaceutical formulation. It will be understood that cylindrical body 20 is already contained within tube 10 at the time the consumer receives th'e packageso that there will be no assembly operations necessary by the user.

To prepare the applicator described herein for use, it is necessary only that stopper 16 be removed from dispensing end 14 of the .tube.

In use, the device is inserted into a body cavity to the extent desired and the contents of the tube are discharged into the cavity by squeezing the walls of reservoir 18. It will ,be understood that the device is formed of suificient length to permit insertion to the necessary depth while permitting the entire reservoir of the tube to remain outside the body. When the contents of the tube have been .discharged, the applicator may be disposed of in any suitable, manner since it is contemplated that it-will be ,used only on a single occasion.

Referring again to the materials from which tube 10 may be formed, it should'be noted that because of -the permanent passageway and the overall rigidity afforded by cylindrical body 20, tube 10 may be of very light weight, thin wall, film material, thus permitting fabrication of the applicator described herein on a very low cost basis. If it is desired-g-tov form the device of such thin wall material that difficulty might be encountered in holding stopper 16 in position, a stopper may be formed to be received within the mouth of passageway 12']. and with sufficient flange portions to bear upon the dispensing end wall of tube 10 thereby compressing the end wall against the ,end of cylindrical body 20 and maintaining an efiective seal. Similarily, or alternatively, a cap or cup-like closuretmay besupplied fitting around the outer walls of tube 10.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the principal objects of the inventlon have been accomplished and that numerous and various changes and modifications may be made in the embodiments of the invention herein described and that the invention is capable of use and has advantages not specifically described herein; it will, therefore, be appreciated that the hereinmade disclosures are to be construed in the nature of illustration only and that the invention is to be limited or delineated only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A single-use applicator of substantially uniform diameter, the length of said applicator being about ten times the diameter, said applicator comprising an elongated outer casing having one end thereof permanently closed and the other end open to permit dispensing of material from within said casing, means for closing said open end; an elongated body within said casing of substantially less length than said casing extending lengthwise thereof from a position with one of its ends adjacent the said open end, said elongated body having a relatively small passageway through its length, saidpassageway having one of its ends adjacent the said open end and the other end opening into a reservoirprovided by said casing.

2.,A pharmaceutical package comprising a single-use applicator of substantially uniform diameter, the length of said applicator being about ten times the diameter, said applicator comprising an elongated outer casing having one end thereof permanently closed and the other end open to permit dispensing of material from Within said casing, means for closing said open end; an elongated body within said casing of substantially less' length than said casing extending lengthwise thereof from a position with one of its ends adjacent the said open end, said elongated body having a relatively small passageway through its length, said passageway having one of its ends adjacent the said openend and the other .end opening into a reservoir provided by said casing, and a pharmaceutical formulation in pretneasured quantity contained in said, applicator.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,731,816 Garhart '0ct.15,'1929 FOREIGN PATENTS 435,469 Great Britain Sept. 23,1935 

